Girls basketball: Hersey’s defense dominates again
Allowing Rolling Meadows just 7 points in the game's first 12 minutes was hardly a surprise to followers of Hersey's girls basketball team.
"That's what we do," said Huskies third-year coach Courtney Ludois. "That's (defense) our strength. And our offense is starting to get there, too."
It always seems to be there for standout senior guard Kate Donovan, who put in yet another superb floor game, connecting for a game-high 25 points (12 baskets, including a 3-pointer) along with more than a handful of steals, rebounds and assists in a 48-31 triumph.
Donovan, who was just 1 point shy of her career high, scored the Huskies' first six points and their last four in the first quarter for a 15-7 lead.
"Kate's been playing phenomenal," Ludois said. "I thought we had a lot of really good stretches where we put up the points and then we had a couple letdowns. But overall we had a lot of contributions from a lot of people."
Also scoring in double figures for the hosts was sophomore Etta Fischer with 12 points. Junior Sadie Marks added five while sophomore Lexi Miyares, who Ludois credited with '"awesome " defense, and sophomore Ellie Holster each had 3.
Hersey raised its record to 7-2 and remained undefeated at 3-0 in the Mid-Suburban East, tied for first with Prospect (6-5, 3-0) which was a 54-21 winner over Barrington.
"That's our goal, right?," Ludois said about the perfect start. "We had no idea what was going to happen this year with this new conference and so far so good. I really like the way we're playing and I like how we're really sharing the ball and really playing as a unit. And they've been coming to practice every day to work."
If she wasn't working her way through the Mustangs' defense, Donovan was flipping a pass to a teammate for an easy layup or getting a steal to start an offensive possession.
"Our defense definitely dictates our offense most of the time," said the New Jersey Institute of Technology pledge. "I think that when they went into their zone, we couldn't make a shot. We couldn't get into it but our transition, our steals and our defense fed into our offense."
Trailing 25-10 late in the first half, Meadows got its offense going. Senior Abby Ramel hit a driving bank shot and Anna Andriano (5 points, 3 steals) hit two free throws to make it 25-14 at intermission.
Meadows then came out and scored 7 of the first 9 points in the second half, getting a fastbreak layup by Ramel, a 3-pointer from Lizzy Andriano (6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) and a driving layup by Nell Osterhues (5 points) which got the Mustangs to within 27-22 with 4:13 left in the third quarter.
But Hersey answered with a 12-2 run to close out the period, ignited by Donovan's 3-pointer followed by her steal and assist to Miyares, who converted a fastbreak layup.
Donovan finished off the big rally with a 14-foot bank shot in the lane and a 17-footer just before the buzzer for a 39-24 cushion.
Hersey took its biggest lead at 19 points when Donovan made a steal under the Huskies' own basket and put it back for a 6-footer and 43-24 lead with 3:41 left in the game.
"It's awesome to be undefeated in the division," Donovan said. "I think our goal is to win the new conference. So that's what we're working toward."
Despite fighting illness, Ramel led Meadows with 16 points. She and Eastern Illinois commit Dalia Grandberry each had 4 rebounds.
"She's (Ramel) been struggling a little with her health the last couple of weeks but she's toughed it out in all these games and is still performing at a high level," said Mustangs coach Ryan Kirkorsky.
The Mustangs now stand at 7-3 and 0-3 in the division.
"We told our kids this two-week stretch was going to be tough," Kirkorsky added. "You just have to learn from your experiences. You've got a week of basketball now over winter break (at the Loyola Christmas tournament in Wilmette)."